Min. 100 units · 3–5 days
Ice Cream Cups with Lids
Custom Printed Cups
Specify thisCustom Printed Cups
Paper Food Cups
Custom paper food cups produced to your size and substrate, with printing and finishing handled in one run.
- Minimum order
- 100 units
- Production
- 3–5 business days
- Construction
- paper cup
- Delivery
- Free shipping
No obligation
Quote this by the case
Name, email, phone and what you are packing and the volumes you run. Attach artwork if you have it. We reply with a specification and a custom quote, usually within one business day.
What paper food cups have to cope with
Paper Food Cups hold hot or cold food rather than a drink — soups, sides, portions, dips. That is the starting point for the specification, because a food cup needs a wider mouth relative to its depth. A drinks-shaped cup is impractical to eat from.
In service they are used for food service where a portion is served in a cup rather than a tray or a box.
Where paper food cups are actually used
Paper Food Cups are specified for food service where a portion is served in a cup rather than a tray or a box. A food cup needs a wider mouth relative to its depth. A drinks-shaped cup is impractical to eat from.
- Food service where a portion is served in a cup rather than a tray or a box
- Coffee shops and cafés
- Quick-service restaurants
- Events and catering
The substrate for paper food cups
A wide-mouth cup with a lining rated for the temperature — hot soup and cold dessert need different linings.
The options we would consider for this format are below; a food cup needs a wider mouth relative to its depth. A drinks-shaped cup is impractical to eat from.
- Single-wall PE-lined paperboard
- Double-wall paperboard
- PLA-lined compostable board
- Ripple-wall board
Printing paper food cups
Food cups are seen from above in service. The rim band and the lid are the visible surfaces.
Offset lithography, Flexography, Digital press are all available for this format. Run length usually decides which is cheapest: digital removes the plate cost on short quantities, offset and flexo overtake it at volume.
Finishing paper food cups
Finishes change how a pack reads more than they change how it performs. Pick the one or two that carry the product and leave the rest.
Finishes are costed one at a time because each is a separate operation — that way you can see which one is carrying the price.
- Matte outer
- Gloss outer
- Uncoated kraft outer
- Soft-touch outer
Sizing paper food cups
Squatter and wider than a drinks cup at the same volume, so the contents can be eaten from it.
Send the contents rather than a box size. Volume is matched from a drinks range without accounting for how the contents are eaten.
What moves the price
Four things drive a quote more than anything else: the quantity, the print route, the board grade and the number of finishing passes. Dimensions matter too, but usually through how efficiently the shape nests on the press sheet.
Online orders on our standard build start from $0.30 per unit with free shipping. For anything beyond that build we quote, and if a cheaper route exists we say so at quoting rather than after the invoice.
Holding paper food cups before service
A drinks cup shape is used for food, and customers cannot get a spoon into a narrow tapered cup.
Paperboard also absorbs moisture from the air until it equalises with its surroundings. If stock sits more than about six weeks in unconditioned space, a moisture-resistant coating is worth its small premium.
What we need from your files
Cup artwork is built on a fan-shaped dieline. Keep type at least 6 mm from the top rim and bottom curl, and expect slight distortion at the seam.
Supply a print-ready PDF or vector file with fonts outlined and images at 300 dpi. Our prepress team checks every file before a proof is issued. The check that catches most files is type sitting too close to a crease, which is easier to move at layout than at proof.
From inquiry to delivery
Start with dimensions and quantity. If you already run something similar, a physical sample tells us more in a minute than a specification does in a page.
A dieline template follows, sized to your product. Prepress checks your artwork against it and issues a proof; nothing runs until you sign that off.
Testing the fit first
Ask for an unprinted sample if the question is fit, or a printed prototype if the question is color. They answer different things.
Sample costs are normally credited against the production order.
Reference
Paper Food Cups at a specification level
| Product | Paper Food Cups |
|---|---|
| Category | Custom Printed Cups |
| Construction | Paper cup |
| Lining | PE or PLA liquid barrier |
| Rim | Rolled rim, lid-compatible |
| Wall | Single, double or ripple wall |
| Materials | Single-wall PE-lined paperboard, Double-wall paperboard, PLA-lined compostable board, Ripple-wall board |
| Printing | Offset lithography, Flexography, Digital press |
| Finishes | Matte outer, Gloss outer, Uncoated kraft outer, Soft-touch outer |
| Minimum order | Minimum order is 100 units on any format, and unit cost falls sharply as the quantity rises. |
| Lead time | 3 to 5 business days after artwork approval |
| Price | Starting from $0.30 per cup on the standard build |
| Shipping | Free to the US, UK, Canada and Australia |
Specification builder
Design Your Custom Paper Food Cups
Set what you know, leave the rest. Everything here travels with your request, so nothing gets retyped.
- 100-unit minimum
- 3–5 day production
- Free dieline
- No obligation
Paper Food
Drag to rotate
In practice
What you get with this format
Fitted to what goes in it
Squatter and wider than a drinks cup at the same volume, so the contents can be eaten from it.
The failure we design out
A drinks cup shape is used for food, and customers cannot get a spoon into a narrow tapered cup.
What it is specified for
Specified for food service where a portion is served in a cup rather than a tray or a box.
The detail that matters
A food cup needs a wider mouth relative to its depth. A drinks-shaped cup is impractical to eat from.
This format sits in our custom printed cups range, alongside 21 other made-to-order formats.
Answers
Paper Food Cups: questions buyers ask
Specification, minimums and lead times for paper food cups.
Can I use drinks cups for food?
They work poorly. A drinks cup is narrow and tapered, and customers cannot get a spoon into the bottom. A food cup has a wider mouth relative to its depth for exactly that reason.
Are paper food cups food-contact compliant?
We specify food-contact compliant boards and inks where the pack touches food directly. Tell us whether contact is direct or through a liner for paper food cups, because it changes which stocks are available to you.
How do you stop grease showing through for paper food cups?
A grease-resistant coating or a greaseproof liner. Untreated board will always strike through eventually with hot, oily food — that is a property of the material rather than a quality fault, and it is inexpensive to design out.
Are paper food cups suitable for hot and cold drinks?
The wall construction and the lining differ between the two. A cup specified for hot service will sweat with a cold drink, and a cold cup will not insulate. Tell us which service you need, or both if you want a single stock item.
Can you hold our paper food cups specification for repeat orders?
Yes. Once a first run is approved we hold the board, structure, dimensions, print method and finishes against your account, so a reorder references the same specification exactly rather than being re-derived. The board and coating are held together, so a reorder cannot quietly arrive on a stock with different grease resistance.
Are recycled or recyclable paper food cups available?
Recycled grades are available across most of the substrates we run for paper cups. Recycled content, curbside recyclability and certified compostability are three different claims though, so tell us which one you intend to print.
What file format should paper food cups artwork be in?
A print-ready PDF or a vector file, with fonts outlined and any raster images at 300 dpi at final size. We supply the dieline to design onto, and prepress checks bleed, safe area and crease clearance before issuing a proof. The dieline we supply carries the crease positions, so keeping type clear of a crease is easier to solve at layout than at proof.
What is the minimum order for paper food cups?
A flat 100 units on any format. Most paper cups in this range are quoted from 100 units upward because unit cost falls sharply above that, but the minimum exists so you can validate a structure first.
How long do paper food cups take to produce?
3 to 5 business days after artwork approval, plus freight. Paper cup runs with applied finishes can take longer because each finish is a separate pass, and we confirm a firm date in writing with the quote.
What do paper food cups cost?
Ordered online, paper food cups start from $0.30 per unit on our standard build, with free shipping to the US, UK, Canada and Australia. For special sizes, materials or large runs we quote, and for this format the biggest levers are quantity, print route, board grade and how many finishing passes are involved. Finishing passes are the lever buyers most often underestimate: each one is a separate run through the line.
Can I see a sample of paper food cups first?
Yes. We can send a plain unprinted sample so you can check the fit and structure, or a printed prototype for color and finish. Sample costs are normally credited against the production order. Worth running a few through your actual line rather than checking them by hand: fill speed and hot contents find fit problems that a desk check does not.
Can you match the paper food cups we already use?
Send the current specification or a physical sample and we will quote to match it rather than proposing an alternative you would then have to re-approve internally. Tell us the coating on the pack you are matching too. Grease and moisture resistance are not visible in a sample and they change which stocks we can quote.
Next step
Start on Paper Food Cups
Send the fill size and the volumes you run. We reply with a full specification and a custom quote, usually within one business day.